Coated barbed wire



'J. S- NACHAZEL July 8, 1969 COATED BARBED WIRE Filed April 20, 1967 INVENTOR John S. Nochazel- BY fMh 9g? MM ORNEYF United States Patent Office 3,454,261 Patented July 8, 1969 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A barbed wire having a strand wire coated with a resilient material and barbs wrapped around the strand wire in compressive engagement with the coating.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention pertains to barbed wire and more particularly to a barbed wire construction having a single strand wire to which the barbs are secured against movement.

Description of the prior art The use of barbed wire has for many years been the accepted way of fencing in land and providing a deterrent against trespass especially by animals. To make acceptable barbed wire, it is necessary that the barbs be attached to the strand wire in such a way whereby they are effectively fixed and are not subject to being either rotated about the strand wire or moved longitudinally therealong. In the past, this requirement has been satisfied by constructing the barbed wire with double strand wires or by using a single strand wire which is specifically designed to lock the barbs thereon. In either case, these prior constructions possess certain disadvantages either from the standpoint of effectiveness or cost.

With the double strand wire construction, the barbs are first secured to one of the strands by tightly wrapping them therearound and then the two strands are twisted together. The twisting of the two strand wires securely fastens the barbs in place to prevent any movement thereof. Although barbed wire constructed in this manner has been found acceptable as far as its effectiveness is concerned, the cost of such wire is relatively high. This is due to the fact that two separate strand wires are required thus almost doubling the amount of material used as compared to a single strand construction. In addition, the manufacture of such double strand wire requires apparatus for producing the twisting of the strands after the bars have been secured thereby making its cost of manufacture greater than would be the case with single strand barbed wire.

With a single strand barbed wire, the barbs are attached by wrapping a number of turns of the barbs about the Wire with the securement of the barbs in place being dependent on the tightness of such wrapping. It is apparent, however, that this type of construction does not provide a positive locking of the barbs in place and that any looseness in the wrapping of the turns will produce an unsatisfactory condition.

Attempts have been made in the past to produce single strand barbed wire having some special structure or design whereby the barbs are held against movement. With one type of single strand barbed wire, the strand wire is constructed with a continuously crimped contour with the crimps being small in length as measured along the wire so as to provide some degree of restraint against shifting of the barbs. Barbed wires of this construction are not, however, completely satisfactory since there is the possibility that when the wire is used, animals pressing against it can cause removal of the crimps by stretching of the strand wire. In addition, the manufacture of such wire is complicated by the necessity of forming these crimps. Not only is a separate operation required to produce these crimps but the apparatus for attaching the barbs must be specifically designed to take into account that the wrapping of the barbs about the strand wire will be at locations where the strand wire is not uniform in shape as it would be if it were an uncrimped wire.

Another type of single strand barbed wire specifically designed for holding the barbs is manufactured with spaced portions having non-circular cross-sectional shape and the barbs are secured .to these portions. Because of the non-circular design, the barbs are prevented from rotating about the axis of the strand wire; and to also prevent longitudinal movement, each non-circular portion of strand wire is bounded at both ends with a portion having a different cross-sectional shape, usually the normal circular shape of conventional wire. As with the crimped barbed wire construction, this type of barbed wire requires special manufacturing equipment for producing the desired cross-sectional pattern; and since the barbs must bepositioned at prescribed points along the strand wire rather than at randomly spaced locations, such apparatus must also be designed to so locate and attach the barbs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the teachings of the present inven tion, a single strand barbed wire of simplified construction is provided in which the barbs thereof are securely anchored against both rotation and longitudinal movement. With applicants construction, not only are the barbs held securely in place; but in addition, the wire possesses other advantages such as resistance .to Weather deterioration and enhanced insulation characteristics. Generally, applicants barbed wire includes three elements, namely a strand wire, a coating of resilient material on the strand wire and a plurality of barbs wrapped about the strand wire in compressive engagement with the coating.

In manufacture, the strand wire is first coated with the resilient material and then the coated wire is passed through a conventional barbed wire machine in which the barbs are wrapped about the strand wire at desired locations in the usual manner as by producing a number of tightly wrapped turns in the barbs. This wrapping causes a compression of the underlying portion of the coating, and due to the fact that the coating is resilient and continuously tends to return to its uncompressed condition, this compression causes the underlying coating to exert a pressure on the turns of the barb to hold them securely in place and thus prevent both rotation and longitudinal movement along the strand wire.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a section of barbed wire constructed in accordance with the teachings of the invention;

'FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the portion of the barbed wire at which one of the barbs is attached, drawn on a slightly enlarged scale; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1 and drawn on a slightly enlarged scale.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in the drawings, the bar-bed wire comprises a strand wire 1, a coating of resilient material 2 and a plurality of barbs 3 Wrapped about the coating. The strand wire is preferably a steel wire and the barbs are 3 made of aluminum wire or a galvanized or aluminized steel wire; however, it is to be understood that other similar materials can be used for these members.

The coating applied to the strand wire is, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a resilient material as for example, a suitable rubber or plastic such as polyvinyl chloride. The coating is applied to the strand wire to provide a substantial thickness as shown in FIG. 1 so that the portion underlying the turns 4 of the barbs can be sufiiciently compressed against the underlying portion of the strand wire to produce the desired pressure acting against these turns and locking them in place.

The coating may be applied to the strand wire by any suitable means such as spraying, extruding or dipping. If the coating is applied by extruding, the base wire is first provided with a rust preventative as by galvanizing or aluminizing it so as to prevent rusting of the strand Wire as might otherwise occur when used out in the field. An extruded coating simply envelops the strand wire and consequently moisture can creep in between the coating and the strand Wire at its out ends. In addition, moisture can also creep through the extruded coating due to the microscopic porosity. With the underlying rust preventative, contact of this moisture with the bare steel wire will be prevented.

Where the coating is applied by spraying or dipping the strand is initially primed so as to obtain a good bond between the coating material and the underlying wire. When the coating is bonded to the strand wire, no moisture can creep in between the coating and the wire; and therefore, the application of any rust preventative is not necessary.

In manufacturing the barbed wire, the coated strand wire is fed through a conventionally constructed barbed wire machine and the barbs are attached thereto in the conventional manner. Such machines are constructed to wrap the barbs tightly around the strand wire; and with the coating already having been applied to the strand wire, this operation will cause the turns of the bards to compress the coating as clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings. Conventional barbed wire machines are also constructed for producing tension curves in the strand wire as it is fed through the machine and such curves may be produced in the applicants coated wire without requiring any modification of the machinery. These tension curves consist of very shallow deformations in the Wire spaced at intervals therealong and they enable the resulting wire to contract and expand with variations in temperature without causing breakage of the wire.

A specific example of the barbed wire constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention includes a steel strand wire having a diameter of 0.103, a coating of polyvinyl chloride plastic material having a thickness of 0.0105" and a plurality of two-pointed barbs made of number 14 round aluminum wire having a diameter of 0.080".

With applicants coated barbed wire construction, not only are the barbs held securely against rotation and longitudinal movement along the strand wire; but in addition, the coating acts as a protective cover prohibiting weather deterioration and as an insulation for the wire so that it may be used as a conductor of electricity. An advantage of this is that the strand wire can be connected into a closed electrical circuit and thus provide a means for detecting breakage after it has been placed in the field. Also, electrical impulses may be sent through the strand wire for purposes of telephonic communication if desired.

With applicants construction, as described above, the cost of manufacture is considerably reduced over double strand barbed wire due to the elimination of nearly half of the material used to make the product. Applicants construction is also less expensive and easier to manufacture than the single strand constructions that are presently available due to the fact that conventional barbed Wire machinery need not be modified; and instead, it is only necessary to initially coat the strand wire with the resilient material before feeding it through the machine.

The above description of the present invention has been made with reference to the presently preferred embodiment; however, it is to be understood that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A barbed wire comprising:

(a) a single strand wire;

(b) a coating of resilient material on said single strand wire; and

(c) barbs connected to said coated strand wire, said barbs including at least one turn wrapped around said strand wire in compressive engagement with the underlying coating on said strand wire to reduce the thickness of the underlying coating and with said coating exerting pressure on the turns of said barbs to hold them in place.

2. A barbed wire according to claim 1 wherein:

(a) said underlying coating is reduced to a thickness less than the thickness of the remaining portion of the coating by the turns of said barbs.

3. A barbed wire according to claim 2 wherein:

(a) said strand wire includes a continuous coating of said resilient material.

4. A barbed wire according to claim 3 wherein:

(a) said strand wire and barbs are constructed of wire having a circular cross-sectional shape.

5. A barbed wire according to claim 4 wherein:

(a) said coating is bonded to said strand wire.

6. A barbed wire according to claim 5 wherein:

(a) said coating is polyvinyl chloride plastic.

7. A barbed wire according to claim 6 wherein:

(a) said strand wire is a steel wire; and

(b) said barbs are constructed of aluminum wire.

8. A barbed wire according to claim 7 wherein:

- (a) the thickness of said coating is about A the diameter of said strand wire.

9. A barbed wire according to claim 8 wherein:

(a) said strand wire has a diameter of about 0.103

inch;

(b) said coating is about .0105 inch in thickness; and

(c) said barbs have a diameter of about 0.080 inch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS DENNIS L. TAYLOR, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE (m CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3, 454 261 Dated Julv 8 1969 Inventor(s) John S Nachazel It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Page 1, Column -l li ne S2 "bars" should read barbs Page 2 Column 3 line 40' "bards" should read barbs-- SEALED FEB 171970 ldwudltllmhmffi WILLIAM l. m. m.- Auesfing Office} commissioner of Patents 

